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New NightClub To Lighten Up Hartford’s Allyn Street

By Kenneth R. Gosselin

August 16, 2012

Hugh Russell’s plans for a new, three-level nightclub at the former Palace in downtown Hartford includes live bands, a sports lounge and a Top 40 dance club.

One thing the plans for 113 Allyn St. don’t include are so much black paint.

“I want to create my own style,” Russell told me today. “Nice, light colors — there’s a lot of black paint in there. It needs to be lightened up a bit.”

He’s also infused his own style in the club’s name: Pyur, a play on the word pure. Russell said he likes the sound of the word, and its quick association with what is clean.

Russell has owned and operated The Russell restaurant at the corner Pratt and Trumbull streets for the past seven years, and has seen a growing popularity among his patrons when he features live bands and clears out a small space for dancing.

“I am expanding that part of the business,” Russell said. “These people were looking for some place to go after dinner.”

Russell told me he aims to attract young professionals and the after-work crowd, more like The Brickyard Cafe that once occupied the space, rather than the younger crowd that frequented his immediate predecessor, The Palace.

Russell won zoning approval this week and must now apply for a liquor permit. If approvals are all secured, the nightclub could be open by late September but that is tentative, Russell said.

The first floor would include live bands of different genres — rock, reggae and jazz — on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The first floor also would have a sports lounge, with “happy hour” specials.

The second floor would feature a Top 40 dance club with a DJ and dance floor that can accommodate up to 500. The club would be open Wednesdays through Saturdays, with valet parking on the weekends.

Later, there could be a nightclub featuring Latin and R&B music on third floor, Russell told me.

Expect a different view from the street as well, with a lot less black paint.